Recess or morning snack time… whatever you call it, it can often be challenging to find or create nutritious, appealing and easy-to-eat options to accompany your child’s lunch. Whilst snacks are useful to stabilize blood sugar levels, they can also fill up tummies and dampen appetites for the main meal scheduled just an hour or two later.

Finding the right balance here can be tricky –  at Wholesome Child we have some suggestions for mid-morning snacks that will help get some nutrients into your kids, as often they are ravenous by this time and willing to munch on new foods. But, there’s no need to plunge in at the deep end and stop all your old favorites at once. With kids, it’s best to start out slowly, and together learn what they like, what they’re not so keen on, and what they’d like to help you create for their school snacks.

Top tips for recess…

• Include protein – most kids’ lunchboxes lack protein of any kind, so aim to include a protein as part of their snack for recess. This is the best way to stabilize blood sugar levels and increase their concentration span. (See the protein chapter in The Wholesome Child Book for more ideas on how to boost protein.)
• Try to steer away from providing pre-packaged snacks which are high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats – and recognize that plastic packaging also has a damaging effect on our environment, so try go waste free for their morning snack.
• Younger children will sometimes have their mid-morning snack provided by their childcare center – this is ideally fresh fruit and vegetables, as their lunchtimes are much earlier than school-aged children. Talk to your childcare provider if you have any questions or concerns about the food being offered to your little ones.
• Start to train your kids not to expect their food to only arrive in brightly colored ‘one serve’ packaging – rather interest them in creating their own little snack packs which also teaches them that non-processed snacks are enjoyable options too!

Best homemade snacks…

Five minutes prep or less snack options:

• Boiled egg in fun-shaped molds
• Veggie sticks with homemade dips
• Simple seaweed wraps – seaweed strips, shredded veggies, shredded chicken that kids can wrap up themselves
• Natural yogurt and mixed fruit in a reusable container (freeze the night before so it’s a slushy by the time kids eat it)
• Cheese, tomato and cucumber salads (cut cheese into fun shapes)
• Fruit, veggie and cheese skewers
• Trail mixes: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sultanas, popcorn, coconut flakes, carob nibs
• Sourdough toast fingers with Betta than Nutella Choc Spread (school friendly).

Options which require a little more prep:

• Homemade muesli bars
• Savory veggie and cheese muffins (make a batch and freeze them) (recipe is in my book on pg. 124)
• Sweet potato pikelets
• Crackers with butternut hummus
• Homemade Sweet Potato Wedges
• Homemade sushi rolls 
• Mini salmon quiches
• Popcorn with coconut oil, cinnamon and sea salt
• Homemade chickpea nuts with garlic salt or cinnamon (baked chickpeas in oven)
• Baked sweet potato wedges with homemade ketchup or tahini and miso sauce
• Mini homemade cauliflower pizza baseswith melted cheese
• Healthy banana bread
• Betta than Nutella muffins

Wholesome Child’s favorite store-bought staples…

• Low-sodium cheese: mozzarella, Swiss, ricotta, quark, cream cheese, bocconcini
• Whole grain crackers, seeded crackers, brown rice cakes
• Veggie-filled dips such as hummus, tzatziki or baba ganoush
• Wholemeal pizza bases
• Seeded low-sugar muesli bars
• Lightly salted popcorn